As Hurricane Michael anniversary nears, Rebuild 850 officials say recovery could take a decade [View all]
One week before the anniversary of Hurricane Michael’s landfall in Mexico Beach, a nonprofit group created to help raise money for the recovery efforts is reminding the public of the devastation the Category 5 storm brought to North Florida.
At a news conference in Tallahassee Thursday, leaders of Rebuild 850 felt their urgent message bore repeating, that it will be a decade before the Panhandle recovers and that billions of dollars in public and private financial aid and volunteer hours are still needed.
“We’re sort of lost up here in the Panhandle,” said former House Speaker Allan Bense, a co-chair of Rebuild 850 and Bay County businessman. “We are not Miami, Melbourne or Jacksonville. The Panhandle is more Southern Alabama and always will be. We are off the radar screen, if we were ever on it.”
Their message echoed remarks made when the group launched in November 2018. Since then it has helped raise $500,000 for Volunteer Florida, which has earmarked about $7 million in donations for the Michael-ravaged Panhandle.
Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2019/10/03/panhandle-recovery-michael-could-take-decade-officials-say/3853804002/
= new reply since forum marked as read